Business essentially consists of two key components - marketing and innovation,
- says Tetyana Budzinska, tutor of CIM.
We are proud that the teachers of the "Diploma in Professional Marketing" program are, first of all, practicing marketers. Tetyana Budzinska is an expert in digital marketing and the implementation of marketing innovations, as well as a tutor of one of the key modules of the Diploma in Professional Marketing – Innovation in Marketing.
Tatiana has been working in marketing for more than 10 years with world-famous brands: Tefal, Raffaello, Huawei, Samsung, Kinder, and others. Her experience is invaluable in the number of cases of launching new products in competitive markets. The case of "green" marketing, which was shared by Tatyana for this article, will be especially interesting for marketers.
It is no longer enough to simply meet the expectations of the consumer, now it is necessary to exceed them.
- Tatyana, has the term "innovation" passed through a red line throughout your professional career?
I am lucky to work in Digital Marketing, which is a huge field for experiments. Also, I have always had over-ambitious assignments in very competitive markets. Often on a limited budget.
In such conditions, innovation becomes a necessity. To stay relevant to your customers, you need to stay one step ahead of the competition, you need to keep doing new and better things. It is no longer enough to simply meet the expectations of the consumer, now it is necessary to exceed them. Remember the famous quote from Alice: "You need to run as fast as possible just to stay in place, and to get somewhere, you need to run at least twice as fast!". It's definitely about modern business and marketing."
About "Green Marketing"
"For example, if 10 years ago the social responsibility of brands was perceived as a charity that large companies could afford, today it is a must-have factor that directly affects sales. The project in 2020-21 from the Tefal brand "Take care of yourself and the environment" was a revelation for me. The purpose of the project was:
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Make people think about responsible consumption and recycling;
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Encourage the audience to take responsible actions/purchases.
We are the first among the competitors in this category who started talking about recycled metal dishes, about the fact that it is not worth keeping the old pans of grandparents. Still, it is better to recycle them and give the metal a new life, as well as the first to organize the collection of old pans.
The peculiarity of the project was that there was no big media campaign (OLV, banner, etc.).
We promoted the project at the points of sale of dishes, as well as in social networks as part of a regular content plan.
An internal activity was also conducted for project stakeholders (partners, contractors, and company employees), during which we encouraged the recycling of old pans. This is a long-term project, it takes years to instill new habits in consumers, and the Tefal brand has chosen this path.
However, the results of the project were not long in coming - an increase in tableware sales by more than 25% (Volume) in 2021. The values the brand shares play an increasingly important role for the consumer and are converted into sales."
Work with what you like
- Tatiana, in your practice there are many successful launches of new products, is there a personal life hack for success?
For myself, I have defined some rules in my work that help me a lot:
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Analytics (this includes analysis of the market, sales, activity of competitors, consumer behavior, and retro data from past campaigns).
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Coordinated work with all stakeholders.
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Experiment and test the right products at the right time.
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Of course, good project management skills are positively practiced in this process.
And this is also important: to be an ambassador of the brand you work with. In my opinion, if you don't believe in the product yourself, you don't like it for some reason, and everything you do will most likely not work well.
But you don't need to force yourself to love something, just first work with what you love and it will bring you joy, success, and results.
- We are often read by novice marketers. Share your tips on how to become successful in building a career?
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You must like marketing, communication, and working with the product and consumers. The profession can be in demand, and fashionable, but you will have to burn yourself on it. Marketing should become a part of your life. It's hard to do something you don't enjoy. And why.
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You definitely need a background. And in this case, we are talking about quality education. I do not believe in courses, or intensives when you are promised to become a successful marketer in 1-3 days. It doesn't work.
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It is necessary to be flexible and ready to learn, test, and try new tools, because the world, consumer behavior, and preferences change very quickly. It is important to react quickly to these changes.